Halo: The Series #1: The Covenant Empire
by Vicious Grunt
Summary: Reach is not glassed, it is inhabbited by the Covenant. The Master Chief is sent there with marines to take it back. But they're not the only one's on the planet... Please R/R..
1. Prolague

The Covenant Empire  
SECTION: Prologue  
The Lone Marine ran through the jungle toward the hangar area. He looked up and saw the same two Banshees following him. He saw the two laser cannons begin to glow bright green. He found the basement bunker door and clambered inside. He slammed the door behind him and run down the dark hall..   
12 Months Later...  
13,000 Light-years away from planet Earth...  
"The Master Chief sighed and ran a hand through his wavy blond hair. "Are you absolutely sure no one else made it out?" he asked as he slouched into the comfortable leather chair of the captain's seat. No, I'm sorry chief. Should we send a message to Earth?" Cortana, the Pillar of Autumn's AI system, replied.  
"Absolutely not," He replied. "The covenant would intercept the transmission and trace it to Earth."  
"Than what shall we do then?" She asked. Cortana paced upon the control panel of the ship.  
"Stage an assault on their biggest planet," The Master Chief said.  
"That's ingenious," Cortana said, "Right under their own noses."  
The Master Chief nodded, and pressed a red button labeled "Cryo-Chamber Door". He then walked back to the set of three Cryo-Chambers. He pressed a button on the outside of the middle Cryo-Chamber and the door opened.  
"Cortana." He said loudly.  
"Yes?" She asked. She appeared in front of him.  
"Set coordinates for Earth, for U.N.S.C headquarters." He said. 


	2. Reach: Under New Management

Section I:  
  
Planet Reach: Under New Management  
  
  
  
Master Chief stepped off the ship and onto Earth. For once he was not in his MJOLNIR Armor, but in a black tank top and baggy blue jeans. He was dressed as a Civilian, because he was about to enter the top-secret part of the base. He could be court marshaled, or even killed if he was seen in his armor. He Met Captain Monroe at the door. The Master Chief Saluted.  
  
"At ease. We've got some...Bad news Master Chief," Captain Monroe said as he walked into the base.  
  
"What happened?" he asked worriedly.  
  
"They didn't glass Reach Chief. They're... They're sending almost their entire fleet to Reach. They're inhabiting Reach, sir. They're on Earth's doorstep. We need to either destroy Reach, or take it back from the hands of the Covenant." He said glumly. He looked up at him. "Will you try the job Master Chief?"  
  
"Yes sir." He turned on his heels and walked back to the ship.  
  
"Oh and sir."  
  
The Master Chief turned around. "Are you sure you want to take an assignment so soon?"  
  
"Yes. It's pay back time. I'm gonna make the Covenant Extinct."  
  
The Master Chief Walked into the base and looked around. It had been a while since he had seen or been on solid ground. He walked into the experimental testing section. He looked around at the new things the technicians were testing. The biggest section was devoted to plasma weaponry testing. If the UNSC discovered plasma, it could turn the tide of the war to their side. The vehicle section was the one he liked the best. It had a water skimmer, that the marines had captured on Halo, which skimmed inches above the water, a glider very much like the Banshee, and a modified ghost with mounted machine guns and a huge fuel rod cannon mounted at the bottom between the legs of the ghost.  
  
Mean while, a small compartment door opened on the bottom of the ship which the Master Chief had escaped the Pillar of Autumn with. A small pack of brown squid like crabs fell out of the compartment. They got up, looked around, and hurriedly scuttled into the base, around a corner and into the Cryo chambers.  
  
CHAPTER I:  
  
1.1.1 Earth: UNSC Headquarters Locker room  
  
"Master Chief. Master Chief!" A young man called after him while the Master Chief was choosing his team.  
  
The Master Chief turned around and looked at him. "Why are you here," he said in his deep voice. He looked around the man's chestplate. He looked up at his face. "What is your na-" He began to ask.  
  
"Keyes. Lt. Keyes." He replied. "Can I be in your team? I'm really good at the sniper rifle. I can almost fire plasma Rifles"  
  
"You're Captain Keyes' son?" He asked. "What is you're mothers name?" He wondered aloud.  
  
"Her name was Dr. Halsey. Do you know her?" Lieutenant Keyes said.  
  
"No." The Master Chief said. "You're late for the team choosing. And I don't want you in here either."  
  
"Why?" He pestered. He followed the Master Chief around the locker room and into the armory. " I'm the best, and I have good aim, and nerves of steel." He said and stopped behind the Master Chief, who was picking out a shotgun.  
  
"Oh you do?" He said and quickly turned around and fired a shotgun shell three inches from his head.  
  
Lieutenant Keyes blinked and pulled his pistol out and immediately shot a shot one-inch away from the Master Chief.  
  
"Good, good," He said. "Maybe I was wrong. You're second in command, and you are one of our snipers. How old are you?" He asked.  
  
"I am 17, sir." Lieutenant Keyes replied. "What guns should I bring?" He called after the Chief.  
  
"Whatever you feel comfortable with!" He called out.  
  
Two Days earlier:  
  
Covenant Destroyer, Scarab  
  
13:70, Covenant Calendar  
  
A small Grunt walked down the very long purple hallways of the covenant star ship and turned a corner. "Yiee!" He screamed as he saw the back of the familiar dark green armor.  
  
"Shut-up" The new type of Elite yelled and shot a plasma bolt at the Grunt.  
  
The blue armored elite finally finished putting on the protective armor of the other Elite. The green armored Elite turned and choked the other Elite. The Blue armored Elite died almost instantly. The green armored Elite turned and laughed at the Grunt, who had stood there quivering and nursing his burnt arm.  
  
1.1.1.1  
  
Earth, UNSC Headquarters.  
  
2:45 PM, November 13th 2068  
  
1.1.2 "Where's Keyes? Where's Lieutenant Keyes?" The Master Chief called. He turned when he heard a noise down the hallway.  
  
"Master Chief! Master Chief!" Lt. Keyes yelled out as he raced down the hallway.  
  
The Master Chief looked at the Cobra. Though the Cobra was much, much larger than a Pelican, it was still far from a little bit smaller than a Human Mini-Cruiser. He looked through the shiny clear glass at what the marines had brought along. On the left wall were racks of guns. Two rows of Assault Rifles, a row of M60 Pistols, 5 Sniper Rifles, two Grenade Launchers, a Rocket Launcher, three rows of Shotguns, and a large Bin of H90 Fragmentation Grenades. On the opposite wall were racks of ammunition and all kinds of technical monitors. And, on the far wall was a small clear window.  
  
Lieutenant Keyes had brought a duffel bag full of grenades and sniper riffle ammo. His specifically modified sniper rifle had a 20x magnification and a special end on it. Its shells were completely lubricated on the sides with a speed-wax like substance. Its tips were coated with the Western Blindness disease, which immediately blinds the infected and painfully kills it.  
  
The 29 Marines Master Chief had recruited stood in a straight line, barely breathing. He walked down the line.  
  
"You are the best of the best, and hopefully better. If you've never seen a Grunt, than this is your lucky day. You will see every kind of Covenant there is, and maybe more. You will NOT let them touch your nav. readings. If you are caught, you will detonate a grenade. Do you understand?"  
  
"Sir yes sir!" The marines barked. The held onto their assault rifles tightly.  
  
"Line up in a straight line. Double time!" The Master Chief barked.  
  
The Marines did what he told them to do.  
  
"Line up in order of training." He told them. They once again did so.  
  
"Blue team is as follows: Lieutenant Keyes, Pvt. Damron, Sgt. Stacker, and you four." He pointed to four more. "The rest of you are red team. You now have a week to modify or in any other way customize what you are bringing." The Master Chief saluted. The Marines followed in suit. "Dismissed!" He barked, and quickly lowered his hand.  
  
He walked down to the stairs where the customize area was. He glanced around. A Warthog with a mounted machine-gun like the one on the normal Warthog, and on the back, a mounted Rocket Launcher on the back. He grinned and looked at the Warthog. A captured SHADE turret was placed in one of the machine gun racks. After all the marines were done modifying their guns they all loaded into the Cobra.  
  
  
  
1.1.3 Space, Cobra  
  
1500 hours, November 27th 2068  
  
The Cobra accelerated through space. Master Chief was leaning back on the racks of the Cobra. He looked out the window.  
  
"Fourth Planet in the Reach system, Reach, Orbiting guns, big bases, and..." The Cobra Pilot said over the intercom.  
  
"It's a Jungle planet.." The master Chief finished.  
  
The Cobra flew past an orbiting Super MAC gun that was oddly glowing blue. A couple hundred meters later, the Cobra lurched and buckled. It began to accelerate down to the planet. The pilot was able to pull up the nose of the Cobra to make sure they didn't slam into the ground. The Cobra was now only a few feet above the trees. The Cobra's secondary systems failed and it slammed into a tree and slid a few inches. The nose of the Cobra slammed into a tree trunk and crushed the pilot. Next to the pilots chamber there was a gaping hole. The marines opened their eyes and looked around.  
  
"Well, good thing that's over" Lieutenant Keyes said with a sigh. The Master Chief heard a tree branch snap.  
  
The Cobra plummeted to the ground. The nose slammed into the ground first, crushing the pilot's body into blood and organs. The Master Chief and his marines clambered out of the gaping hole in the hull of the ship. The two Warthogs were flipped over a few yards away. A trailer had been added to a Warthog that could be filled with weapons.  
  
"Aww man, where are we? We're trapped here! We're trapped here! We're screwed! We're screwed!" A marine yelled.  
  
The Master Chief pulled out a map of Reach.  
  
"There's an armored bunker a few kilometers from here. We should make it there soon." The master Chief said. He pointed to a large gray block on the map. "Marines! Load up! If they find this place and catch us napping, we're dead." He said.  
  
Four marines sat on the trailers, three sat in each of the Warthog racks, and another three sat in the seats. Nine Marines hadn't made it out of the Cobra Alive. One had even stepped on Lieutenant Keyes's ammo and died instantly. The two Warthogs bounced through the jungle toward the bunker. Master Chief rode side seat, while Lieutenant Keyes drove the Warthog.  
  
"So, what is the infamous 'Hunter' like?" Lt. Keyes asked.  
  
"There's more than one. They...well... have shields and have a very weak soft spot: The Stomach, Neck, or back."  
  
"Um, sir? I think I saw something. Master chief, over here!" Pvt. Damron said as he saw a brownish body laying slumped over a tree root.  
  
The Master Chief walked over and looked over Pvt. Damron's shoulder. "Get in the Hog."  
  
"Why sir?" Damron asked.  
  
There was a loud noise of squid like feet scuttling about. "That's why." He answered. They ran back to the Warthog and jumped on the pedal.  
  
The Warthog's tires spun in the mud, and fishtailed away.  
  
  
  
Planet Reach, 9:15 P.M.  
  
The Large bunker loomed overhead in the distance.  
  
"Why don't we camp here sir?" A marine asked.  
  
"Because the Flood will easily kill us if we do. We have to make it to the bunker." The master Chief said. They accelerated the Warthogs. Mud flew up into the air. The Warthogs reached the bunker and the marines unloaded their ammo and grenades and climbed into the structure. They turned on the lights and saw a horrific sight. A marines body, not quite decomposing, not quite alive. It had Flood Infection forms around it, attaching themselves to the body. The Master Chief emptied a entire clip of assault rifle ammo into the infection forms.  
  
"This place isn't safe. We need to get to the base." He said. They reloaded their ammo and grenades and quickly jumped onto the Warthog and sped off into the dark, humid jungle. 


	3. Reach: The Flood Has Arrived

They all entered into a large area of the base. They checked for any sign of the Flood, or Covenant. They then drove into the bunker area, but didn't unpack this time. There was red blood all over the area.  
  
The group headed into the communication area. The Master Chief thought about camping here, but decided against it. He walked over into the Comm. Desk area.  
  
Communications Officer 2nd class Blake Mikolajewski's desk was cluttered with letters, pictures and letters, and Morse code translations. In fact, the whole wall surrounding his area was covered with posters like his personal favorite, showing the ring-like world Halo, and written under it "I survived Halo". He had never actually been into a Pelican or even a Warthog. He had tried out for infantry, but couldn't hold or shoot a gun for crap. Now, as a light on the communication transmitter flashed red, he pushed all the Pepsi bottles and notebooks aside. "Umm, Sir, there's a transmission. And, it's coming from Reach." He said loudly over the intercom to General Chris Pizzo's office.  
  
Chris Pizzo was a retired UNSC infantry officer with the highest ranks and saved many officers. He now was a tactical officer.  
  
"Master Chief! Is that you? What's happened!?" Chris Pizzo asked.  
  
"We've crashed on Reach, sir. We have approximately nine dead, sir. We need evac." There was a large ammount of static. "Our position is..." The transmission went dead.  
  
"Is this earth? Hello! I'm on Reach! There's Covenant everywhere!" a deep voice said. The transmission was rattled with assault rifle fire. "Help me! Send someone!" It went dead again.  
  
"There must be interference, sir. It means that many star ships are entering the atmosphere.  
  
"Corporal, send in the Black Ops." Was all General Pizzo said.  
  
1.1.1.1.1.1 Planet Reach  
  
Unknown position  
  
The Master Chief had had to put several marines out of their misery by now, all because of coordinated attacks by the flood. He had run into Dr. Halsey, with half a chunk of head missing. She had already been producing flood infection forms in her chest cavity. He had to look away as the bullets pierced her weak skull. The master chief walked out of the small storage room and into the main hallway. He had left his marines outside on guard duty.  
  
THUMP. THUMP.  
  
He turned around as the ground shook with an incredible force, enough that it knocked him off balance. The door shook across the hall from him.  
  
He heard a large scream of bloodlust and uncontrollable anger and the door splintered and dented. He didn't want to run away from whatever savage beast was behind the door, but he also didn't want to risk the mission for pride. He turned and ran down the hallway towards the exit.  
  
"Sir? What was that sound?" Lieutenant Keyes asked.  
  
"Well, If you want to know, by all means stick here." The master chief said.  
  
The marines quickly piled into the warthog and sped off. 


	4. The Ghost Ship...

Chapter: 3  
UNSC Destroyer, Conqueror, in Orbit around Reach  
  
Ensign Pustalka was not a very organized or serious man. If anything, he was to say more than a little bit unreliable. When he learned of Harvest's destruction, he used that as an excuse to get out of collage. He looked down at the insignia, bearing the Arrow and Knife, one of the many UNSC logos for the rankings.   
He leaned back on his chair, and was about to reach into his pocket for his cigarettes, which was against the rules in the UNSC, but he didn't care. It's not like anything was gonna happen.   
A horrible beeping noise interrupted him from his dream of becoming or working on the top secret Spartan III project.   
He leaned back the right way and looked at the monitor. A large red blip had drifted within range of sight, although it was a Covenant ship, it hadn't fired yet.  
"Captain! Captain Sir!" He called to Captain Johnson.   
The captain walked over to Pustalka's desk.   
"What is it Ensign?" Captain Johnson asked quietly.   
"Captain we have a Covenant Destroyer drifting toward us. Life signs show" He paused. "All clear. There's nothing alive."  
The captain chewed on his lip. "This is the kind of thing I wished I knew what to do."  
The Captain stood up.  
"Sergeant Green," he said over the Comm. Link. "Send in your best team." 


	5. Dragonfly Shuttle Happenings..

Chapter: 5  
Dragonfly Shuttle, Outer Reach Territories, en route to Covenant Destroyer Scarab  
  
"Men, you will be on a Covenant destroyer. Our main objective is to retrieve a covenant drop-ship, Jackal Energy shields, and as many plasma weaponry as you can carry." Sergeant Smith walked passed the lines of marines on the Dragonfly shuttle.  
"If you see anything unusual, report it in. Your microphones are wired to the ships comm. Units so, try not to swear a lot, okay. You have videos wired onto the ships main view channels implanted into your helmet."  
The Dragonfly accelerated through some debris.  
"Sergeant, come take a look at this.." The Pilot said over the comm. Unit.   
The sergeant walked toward the front of the Dragonfly. He leaned over the pilot and clutched his MA5B Assault Rifle tightly at what he saw.   
Bodies, decompressed bodies of Covenant aliens. Jackals, Hunters, Grunts and Elites all floated around a seemingly large area. Each body wore the same expression, shock, fear, and anger.  
"Something got to them before we did..." The pilot murmured.  
Suddenly, something hit the cockpit. Large sharp teeth in a jaw opened in a silent scream of terror, the face much like one of a vulture or hawk. A mohawk of dark orange hair was in the middle of it's head. The Arms sprawled on the cockpit, one arm still trying to activate it's energy shield, while the other clutched a plasma pistol.  
"Holy SHIT!" The pilot screamed and accelerated forward.  
"Pilot! It's dead! It's dead." Smith said, trying not to sound amazed or as scared as he was, as he was trying to calm the pilot down.  
The Dragonfly slowed down and maintained a steady course. They went forward and saw a blood chilling sight. A gaping gorge in the hull of the Covenant Destroyer, with a large bubble like covering over it.  
"Captain! Check and see if we can breathe in there!" The Pilot asked over the comm. Channels of the ship.  
"Checking.." The Captain said. "Yes, according to the computer, the bubble covering is letting things in, like ships and bodies and equipment, but keeps oxygen in."  
"All right. Bring er' in, Pilot." Smith said. 


	6. One Down, Two To Go....

Chapter 5  
Covenant Destroyer, Scarab, Level 6   
  
Status Report:  
Hull breaches: Levels 5-7, oxygen contained  
Engines 1-3 Off-line  
  
The Dragonfly shuttle approached the bubble hull cover. It slowed down and entered the hull. The level went through to the docking bay on level 6. The dragonfly hovered a little, then touched down on the docking bay, but was floating where the 7th level was.  
The docking clamp lowered and grasped the Dragonfly.  
"What's that?" The marines murmured in the back. "Are we here?"  
The hatch in the back slowly lowered to the ground on level seven.  
"Marines! Move it! Double Time! Go go go!" Sergeant Smith yelled as he passed out MA5B Assault Rifles with Silencers and Shredder Rounds.  
"Group A, stay here and guard the Dragonfly. Group B, you're coming with me." Sergeant Smith said. A group with a red bar separated from a group with a blue bar over their helmets.  
Private Green went ahead and up a long ramp. He looked around slowly. He made the motion with his fists meaning "All clear". The other marines went up ahead of him.  
"All clear", Sergeant Smith called out.  
The other marines did this until they got to a long dark hallway. Private Green went ahead. He glanced down the hallway quickly.  
"You see anything?" Sergeant Smith called to him.  
"No." Green said. He paused. "We've got nothing down the rabbit hole," he said over to the Conqueror.  
Behind him, a dark green shape separated itself from the shadows and sneaked toward him. Dark red, glaring eyes were only visible. The Elite was now only a few feet from the marine.  
"Okay, return to the dragonfly and get back here. Wait.. There's a covenant life form reading behind you.." Captain Johnson said to Green over the comm. Link.  
Private Green turned around and saw a pair of Bright glowing red eyes an inch away from his face. He screamed and backed away, all of the while firing the Assault Rifle. The Green Elite pulled his right arm back, and as he did so, a Bright, glowing blue energy saber formed on his hand. The Elite roared, and impaled the weak, puny earthling through the heart, and flung him off the level.  
The remaining marines turned and ran.   
"Pilot! We NEED EVAC!" the sergeant screamed into his radio. "We're on level.. umm... 8! Level 8!" Smith turned and threw a grenade at the Elite.  
The Marines looked around nervously.  
The familiar hum of the Dragonfly's engines made them sigh in relief. They dove into the Dragonfly and slammed the hatch closed.   
"GO! Hurry!" They yelled at the pilot.  
The pilot gunned the engines.   
The sergeant sighed and leaned against the side of the ship. It was over. It was all over.  
Thump.  
Something outside the ship roared.  
The hatch slowly opened, and the dark green Elite roared at them. The sergeant fired at the creatures open mouth, and red brain matter and purple blood splattered the hull of the ship as it fell backwards, finally dead. 


End file.
